Geoff's proposal

Objectives

Technical: To acquire skills to model, rig and animate cellular characters for the purpose of 3D gaming.

Theoretical: To explore character design conventions in games as well as educational materials.

Practical: To conceptualize and storyboard a set of characters for an immunology-themed educational game. To model one or two such characters to have it interact with it's environmental surrounding, engage with characters, and respond to scripted cues.

Research Questions

1) How to design a character at the cellular level within a three-dimensional tissue environment? What considerations must a game artist take, and do these considerations change from a biomedical communicator's point of view?

Hypothesis:

• As with animated biomedical visualizations of microscopic or cellular events, true character dynamics are often replaced with a more exaggerated or stylized set of behaviours. For example, cellular collisions may not result in morphological changes in vivo, but on screen, compression and deformation upon impact may appear more realistic and organic (Thomas & Johnston). A consideration during the design process would then be to ensure that the model be able to adopt such characteristics.
• With cell-like characters, polar orientation may affect not only game-play but communication as well. While rolling, bouncing, tumbling characters may appear more realistic, they may not be easily programmable. Whereas a cell with a defined head and foot may be easier to integrate and have it interact with it's surrounding.

How does character appearance and behaviour affect user attraction, useability and playability? Would an anthropologic character be more accessible to a wider audience than organic cell-like characters?

Hypothesis:

• The appearance of a character can greatly attract or deter specific audience groups. Even in the case where two games may adopt the same character, their behaviours and movements, for example one with more bounce and exaggeration versus one with stiffer joints, may greatly affect a game's attractiveness to different people.
• An anthropological character may be more attractive and more relatable to its target audience. Having the option to choose between male and female would attract a greater audience than a single sex-defined one. Must now consider how different sexes or genders may potentially affect interpretation of the seriousness of the game.
• A cell-shaped character may be universally more acceptable because there would inherently be less gender bias. Androgyny, however, may have other limitations.

Does character design affect credibility and communication of scientific material?

Hypothesis:

• Continuing from the previous point, an anthropological character may not only serve to attract a wider audience, it may help to communicate scientific material. Unlike a cell that exocytoses a protein for example, an anthropological character may through a particular protein or weapon. Visually, this action taken by the main character may be more readily registered by a human player who can more easily fathom throwing an object than projecting endocytic contents. In essence, it is like how a professor or educator may make an analogy of a complex biochemical reaction in order to better communicate a point. Visualizing human-like interactions may help users make associations between such biological processes.
• The detractor of using an anthropological character may be a decrease in credibility. Even if much care is taken to render and create a highly accurate biological environments and events, the use of a human-like character may cause viewers to distrust the material.

Does character-appearance customizability and evolution affect replay value? Does appearance morphology and evolution help communicate biochemical or cellular change?

Hypothesis:

• For the purpose of replay, having an expansive character customizability system may serve to promote replay. Users may be enticed to try different outfits, acquire different abilities and assume different roles.
• Ensuring that customizability serves more than to increase replay with be important. Appearance changes may serve to explain morphological changes at the cellular level. Character evolution may help players understand profound intracellular changes that may not be visually evident otherwise.

Can character-environment interactions affect a player's spatial or overall understanding of biochemical and organic processes?

Hypothesis:

• By creating an explorable 3D environment, games can help foster players' spatial skills. By navigation through the world, players can gain an understanding of the anatomical function of an organ. Through event triggers and visual cues, they may then make associate functions with structure.

Methods

(See group methods)